Boy racers have turned Kerry beach into ‘Mondello Park’

ONE of Kerry’s popular beach areas has become “like Mondello Park” since a caravan park there was last year shut down by Kerry County Council, it was claimed yesterday.

The caravan park on the back beach at Rossbeigh had been used by upwards of 30 families since the 1960s, but was closed last year because it was in breach of environmental and planning laws, according to the council.

Concerns had previously been raised by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) about the effects of the caravan park on sand dunes, and possible pollution from the park’s septic tank system.

However, local FF councillor Michael Cahill said that, since the closure, there had never been more damage to the beach and dunes.

“It’s like Mondello Park down there. The place is all torn up and the NPWS and An Taisce are not saying a word,” he said.

Boy racers and others now had easy access to an area, which was formerly “policed” by the caravan owners, he added.

Recently, An Bord Pleanála turned down a planning application from the council for a caravan park on a different site in Rossbeigh.

The main reason for rejecting the application was the potential impact of a caravan park in a Special Area of Conservation, as well as knock-on effects on nearby mud flats and a salt marsh.

An Bord Pleanála also maintained the council had not looked at less damaging sites in Rossbeigh.

Council director of environmental services Anne Haugh, meanwhile, told local representatives at Kerry County Council’s September monthly meeting that the private sector could still get involved in providing a caravan park — at a less sensitive location in Rossbeigh.

But, Ms Haugh added, she felt that any further involvement by the council would be unproductive and unjustified on planning, ecological and financial grounds.